Is the claim of preemption divisible when multiple partners share the right?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Preemption (Shuf'ah)
Primary text
If there are multiple claimants of preemption over a single shared piece of property, if some claimants waive their right, the remaining claimants must either take the entire share or abandon the entire claim. They are not permitted to take only a portion of the property. This ruling is attributed to Malik, Al-Shafi'i, and the companions of Al-Ra'y, with Ibn Al-Mundhir reporting consensus among scholars known to him on this matter. The justification is that taking only a part harms the buyer by dividing the transaction (tab'eed al-safqa). Since preemption itself is an exception to the general rule, established only to avert the harm of bad partnership and the burden of division, taking only a portion does not achieve the intended benefit of averting harm, thus it is not permissible.
Supporting text
If there is only one claimant of preemption, they are not allowed to take only part of the sold item. If they proceed to do so, their right of preemption is forfeited entirely because it is indivisible, similar to retribution (Qisas).